According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate among military veterans discharged after September 2001 is 9.9 percent. The national unemployment rate is 7.4 percent.

Gov. Jay Inslee recently issued an initiative supporting recruitment of veterans into state service.

In June, a group of state-employed military veterans called the Veterans Employee Resource Group (VERG) organized a career event at South Puget Sound Community College. Aptly named “Veterans 4 Veterans,” the event was not a typical job fair where potential employers set up tables and talk with participants about job opportunities and career benefits.

VERG tapped the Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s transition assistance program and state communications professionals to promote the event. Several pre-event workshops designed to share essential cultural and skill-based perspectives were provided for both veterans and state recruiters.

The event drew about 300 participants – and nearly half have submitted applications for employment with the State of Washington. By early August, 82 applicants had been referred for job openings, with seven landing state jobs.

Don Chavez, a state recruiter who works for the Department of Enterprise Services, said the number of hires is likely to increase in coming months.

“The warming economy and retirement of older state workers are likely to boost the number of state job openings in the coming months,” Chavez said.

In August, Robert Humes, a statewide planning and strategy specialist with the Office of Financial Management issued a report concerning the Veterans 4 Veterans event.

Hume recommended that the state continue to sponsor similar events, noting that the partnership between veterans, the community college and state agencies helped eliminate overhead costs.

He also recommended that future events should be held in locations across the state.

VERG was created in 2012, partly in response to the state’s efforts to expand recruitment of military veterans and partly because its members have been there and want to help.
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